Cycling is about "Safe exercise" and "Safe low-emission travel" The Health and Fitness objective is UNDERMINED if the means of exercise is UNSAFE! This blog STRONGLY OPPOSES certain reforms VicRoads is currently considering: “cyclists could be allowed to treat red lights as Give Way signs. And the same could also APPLY at pedestrian lights."
Also "PERMITTING cyclists, riding cautiously, to proceed past a stationary tram;" "allowing teenagers to ride on footpaths"(Herald Sun)PDowe

Monday, January 11, 2016

Community Safety Hot Cars Toddlers KidSafe 225 Victorian children left in hot cars in just one month Herald Sun January 12, 2016

225 Victorian children left in hot cars in just one month

January 12, 2016 7:15am

Matt JohnstonHerald Sun

Concerned Victorians reported 225 incidents of kids left in hot cars in the first month of summer.

CHILDREN
in deadly peril in hot cars are the cause of an average of more than
seven 000 rescue calls a day, despite repeated warnings of the danger
and the threat of big new fines.
Worried Victorians seeing kids at risk made 225 such calls in the first month of summer — up from 161 the year before.
And crews of paramedics were called to 13 such cases on each of two days last month.
As
Victoria braces for more sweltering weather this week, the State
Government renewed its warnings of the risk to children locked in cars.
Acting Premier James Merlino yesterday urged Victorians to take the problem seriously.
“We continue to face hot conditions this summer — there are no excuses for leaving kids in cars,” Mr Merlino said.

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In Victoria, laws were changed early last year so that
parents or carers who leave children unattended in a car face fines of
up to $3700, or up to six months in jail.
It is unclear how many of the new fines have been issued.
Ambulance
Victoria’s emergency management director, Paul Holman, said some cases
of children being locked in hot cars were accidents, “while others
appear to be deliberate”.
“Ambulance
Victoria has done tests which show that on a 29C day, the temperature
inside a car can reach 44C within 10 minutes, and 60C in 20 minutes,” he
said.
“Tragically, we’ve seen three children die in recent years after being left in a car on a hot day,” Mr Holman said.
A
young child’s body temperature can rise three to five times faster than
an adult’s, leading to greater risks of life-threatening heatstroke,
dehydration, and organ damage.
In extreme situations over summer,
emergency services crews have had to treat dehydrated and weak children
on the spot — sometimes by smashing windows to get into vehicles.
The new safety campaign is being jointly run with Kidsafe.
It
will include advertisements reminding parents how easy it is to
underestimate the time it takes for them to run an errand or duck into a
shop.
Families and Children Minister Jenny Mikakos said safety
campaign material also would be spread throughout kindergartens, general
practitioners’ clinics and hospitals.
“When you leave your child in a car, you are putting them at risk of serious injury or death,” she said.
“If
you are travelling with a child and you need to get out of the car —
even for just a moment — make sure you take your child or children with
you,” Ms Mikakos said.
“No exceptions,” she said.
“No excuses.”